Over the last few years, the idea of ‘Wellness’ – a natural, holistic approach to health and self care – has become a way of life for many people. In response, there has been an enormous amount of new developments in the Wellness world.

Our new Wellness Essentials series will showcase some of the new, innovative and sometimes bizarre trends in the wellness world to help you navigate this exciting new space.

Wellness Tourism

Where once we were excited by an on-site day spa for a relaxing massage or pedicure, there is now a growing demand for holiday options that include tailored wellness regimes. Whether it’s a yoga retreat with a raw food detox program, or a daily regime of colonics and cranial sacral therapy, the wellness tourism industry is seeing extraordinary growth.

Sage Smudging

Continuing the trend towards de-cluttering and minimalism that we’ve seen over the last few years since Marie Kondo’s book The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Upbecame a New York Times best seller, Sage Smudging is becoming an ever more popular practice. Used to cleanse a space and purge negative energies, Sage Smudging fits perfectly into our growing desire to surround ourselves with only those things that bring us joy, rather than copious amounts of unnecessary ‘stuff’ cluttering our homes and minds.

Dream Meditation

The benefits of meditation for stress relief and overall mental & emotional wellbeing are now widely accepted, but the idea of Dream Meditation is still new to most people. Described as ‘visualization on steroids’ Dream Meditation leads you into a dream like state where the mind perceives whatever it experiences as ‘real’ and commits what it learns to memory, almost as if it had occurred in your waking life. Dream Reality Cinema in LA are taking the practice to a whole new level with a range of immersive Dream Meditation experiences that will supercharge the experience for their clientele.

Social Saunas

Once a solitary activity or (according to Hollywood movies) the domain of middle age men in country clubs, saunas are seeing a comeback among the young and hip. From Scottish saunas with DJ’s and Bars to urban Sweat Lodges in NYC, the sauna is definitely seeing a big revival!

Adaptogens

Adaptogens have been getting a fair bit of press lately for their ability to help manage stress and anxiety. They are a unique class of healing plants that help balance, restore and protect the body. As naturopath Edward Wallace explains, an adaptogen doesn’t have a specific action; it helps you respond to any influence or stressor, normalizing your physiological functions. In essence, Adaptogens help the body to deal with stress so its no surprise that they’re becoming more popular as people look for natural ways to improve their overall wellbeing.